Limbo
by apples4ryuk
Summary: JoJo experiences a brief and strange after-death occurrence that he's sure is just a cruel dream to remind him of his youthful mistakes. But what do they think life would've been like? If things were different... If he hadn't exhausted his life force for JoJo? CaeJose CaeSeph


It was too late. Joseph couldn't see anything after Dio drained his blood, his life. But when he woke up again, he felt a soft breeze caressing long, brown bangs…

"Wait, what?" he thought aloud. Joseph sat up, bringing his hands forward to see them adorned with his beloved gloves. "What in the… Hey! My voice!"

He sat up and realized the warmth around his neck was from his favorite scarf. He wondered where it could have come from so suddenly, and how he'd got it back anyway, but it didn't matter.

Here he was, Joseph Joestar, defeated by Dio in a battle he knew would end in death on one side. And yet, it felt refreshing.

The lightly gray sky carried its breath over a long, stone bridge beneath him. It looked to be curved underneath when he leaned over, though its width was quite narrow and he dared not lean too far. It was all very strange to him.

"So this is heaven, huh?" He stood and brushed himself off, grinning like a child at the sight of his worn out brown boots. Those were his favorite, too.

Everything about him right now—his existence, his body which had miraculously reverted to… To… A time when, perhaps, he could be described as having been the most powerful. Imagine if he'd discovered his stand then…

"JoJo," he heard a voice call. "What are you doing here?"

His head snapped around, eyes spotting a figure on the opposite side of the bridge. Behind foggy mist stood a man; he had to have been shorter than him, with blond hair, a blue jacket and…

"But… Your headband burned when…"

Joseph's eyes widened and he shouted, "Oh my god!" while running forward, and in four long strides he'd jumped and tackled Caesar to the hard ground. "Caesar! _Caesar!_ It can't be you, is this some cruel dream? Caesarino…" He whined into the man's chest, his ears picking up a heavy sigh that contrasted the gentle, gloved fingers stroking his hair.

"JoJo," Caesar said. "What are you doing here?"

"I… I don't know," he mumbled. He kept his head buried in Caesar's warm, airy chest. "Dio… Dio… He killed me, I guess—"

"You _guess_?!"

"Oi, oi! It happened so fast, I… is this heaven, Caesar? Is it really?"

"Not exactly." Caesar's fingers tickled behind Joseph's ears and played with the hairs that curled up at the bottom of his neck.

"Well, I could stay here forever," Joseph said, hugging Caesar tighter.

"You're not supposed to be here, JoJo."

"Why not?"

"It's not your time yet…"

"But you're here, and I'm here. We can be here together, right, Caesarino? Like before. And who cares if we're dead. This is the life! I got you, and you got me! Hey, maybe Wham is here too…"

"Seriously? Why would Wham be here, JoJo?" Caesar asked. He laughed quietly but Joseph heard it, and it made him smile. He looked up and the small smile on Caesar's wonderfully pink lips made him even happier, and his chest welled up with warmth and an inexplicable pain. He'd give up the world to relive his life with this man.

Well… Almost.

"What's wrong, Caesarino? …Oh no. Your next line will be…"

"How do you think it would be? If I… if I lived. If—if _we_ lived…"

"Perfect."

"Are you sure, JoJo?"

"Yes. One-hundred percent. We could—we could live in Italy, because New York is so dirty anyway, and Granny Erina would love to be so close to London again. Maybe she could even hire people to find my grandfather's body—well, his head, really…"

Caesar's face paled.

"Ah, haha, it's a long story… But I would have loved it, you know? I love _thinking_ about it. I've dreamt about it, you know. What're they called? Fantasies, right? We could visit New York sometimes though, I mean I pretty much grew up there. Smokey would approve, I know it 'cause if he didn't I'd just make him. But he respects me anyway and I don't think he'd have a problem with it. Hey, remember Speedwagon, Caesarino? Died of a heart attack! Despite all the other stuff that old man's been through! I couldn't believe it!"

"Yes… I met him here, too," Caesar said, looking away. "Those of us with regrets are stuck here, JoJo. I don't want that to be your fate."

"But I'm with you, Caesar. I may have regrets but this ain't one."

"Wouldn't you have wanted children?"

"Are you going senile in your old age, Caesar?" Joseph found that his eyes stung, and then warm liquid began dripping below his sinking cheeks. But he had no reason to cry, right? "I have… I have Holly…"

"Yes, Holly. She seems to have inherited your spunk. JoJo… remember what spurred on this mission?" Caesar held Joseph's face with both hands, desperately wiping away his tears, smoothing out those sharp cheekbones. "I wanted children, too. We could have figured something out. Things seem so different now, in your time. Your grandson. Your companions. JoJo, I don't want to take you from them."

"But they've had me plenty! Please, Caesar. My Caesarino… Don't do this to me again."

"Your next line will be…" Joseph couldn't help but grin at Caesar's imitation of him.

"I loved you!"

"I loved you too, JoJo. But it isn't your time yet."

"And—and you? What… what do you think it would have been like?"

Caesar helped Joseph to stand and ran his hands down Joseph's muscles, ghosting over hot skin until they slipped into his hands. His eyes were sad, but grateful.

"It would have been…"

"Heh. Your next line will be…" Joseph said. They mirrored each other's sad smile, filled entirely with love. With heartache.

" _Una bella vita."_

" _A beautiful life."_

Joseph tightened his grip on light that disappeared from his fingertips, surrounded by bubbles bathed in soft light. It grew brighter and brighter, with beeping and buzzing beginning to disrupt Joseph's sensitive ears. His eyes finally opened and he saw two medics and out of the corner of his eye…

"Jiji."

 _Thank you, Jotaro,_ Joseph thought, contemplating messing with the poor boy. _But it would have been a beautiful life. Even now._

A last, passing image consumed Joseph's mind, of fluffy blond hair and cute little feathers, and a patterned headband surrounded by blood. The blood of his love, protecting a ring that would save his life. And though it was not Caesar's ring, Joseph knew long ago that he would have said yes in a heartbeat.

Perhaps one day, the Joestars could make the Zeppelis their own, and the Zeppeli's could finally live. _Really_ live.


End file.
